Lima celebrates Comic Book Day

Hundreds of people waited in line to get free comic books Saturday at Alter Ego Comics in Lima.

Sam Shriver | The Lima News

LIMA — Saturday was likely the last Free Comic Book Day at Alter Ego Comic’s current location at 230 N. Main St.

Owner Marc Bowker announced recently he would be moving to another location.

“We’ll be moving over to our new location on South Central probably by the end of the summer, but we’re looking forward to moving into the newly formed Legacy Arts District with Rustgaze Records, Legacy Studios, Shop for Good and The Meeting Place on Market with their coffee kiosk,” Bowker said.

This is the 14th year for Free Comic Book Day at Alter Ego Comics.

“Every year is bigger and better than the last,” Bowker said. “It’s really just a celebration of the art form of comics. The rest of the world has finally caught up with the fact that comics are actually cool, and the characters that are in them are also very cool. This is just a reminder that lots of great stories start in comics. They’re a great tool for younger readers, and reluctant readers may be to pick up something and start reading. But they’re also some amazing stories. It’s very clear that Hollywood thinks there’s some amazing stories in comics too.”

People could choose from a wide variety of titles. All free.

“Basically we got about 20 different titles that people can choose from. Each visitor can choose five different titles, and they can choose two more with a donation to Comic Books for Kids, which is a charity we’re working with this year. They get comics into hospitals and cancer treatment centers for kids,” Bowker added.

Some of the titles were more familiar than others.

“We’ve got a Disney Descendants book, so that’s for fans of the TV series that’s on the Disney Channel; Pokemon; Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles; Avengers; Spider-Man; Batman; the traditional ones like that. We’ve got some titles I’m personally a fan of that I kind of invested in and hopefully other people will pick up. There’s a book called The Goon, which I think is really fun and action-packed,” he said.

Also as part of the event, there was Touch a Truck, where people could get up close with a variety of vehicles such as a police cruiser or a fire truck.

Hundreds of people waited in line to get free comic books Saturday at Alter Ego Comics in Lima.

https://www.limaohio.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/54/2019/05/web1_ComicBookDay-orig.jpgHundreds of people waited in line to get free comic books Saturday at Alter Ego Comics in Lima. Sam Shriver | The Lima News